There's A New Mayor In Town
by crappyfriend
Summary: Jaune had only wanted to make a name for himself, far away from the shadow of the Arc legacy. He had travelled to the frontier to make sure that his deeds would be contributed to him. How it led to him as the new mayor of Mining Outpost 341 was a mystery.
1. Chapter 1

"Are you excited Jaune? Three months of travel and were almost there." The voice sounded as excited as Jaune felt.

"Yep, it's almost miraculous that there have barely been any Grimm attacks." He turned to the merchant who had let him sit on for all this way. The wagon they sat on was on the front of a long line other wagons with guards stationed around them. The forest they were in would sometimes make the odd birdsong.

"The Traveler must have watched over us and you helped to Jaune, no need to be humble about it." The Merchant complimented, though Jaune didn't feel like he deserved it.

For three months he had been a part of the caravan and he hadn't done that much. He helped prepare camp for the night, acted as an assistant when there was too much too do and prepared the food. It was the least he could do when he had asked for a seat right before they left his village.

The Merchant, Rufus, must have known how Jaune felt.

"Jaune, how many times do I need to tell you that when someone gives you a compliment that you take." Rufus ruffled his hair. "You might not think it, but every single person you helped are thankful for what you've done."

"If you say so." He didn't quite believe him.

"It seems I need to bring out the guitar once again." He gave the reins of the horse over to him. He took out a guitar and pricked at the strings. "You have to only ask if you want me to play, maybe 'A new dawn' would fit best for the occasion."

Rufus played a tune that started slow but slowly picked up the tempo. Jaune had to keep most of his concentration to make sure that he steered the horses right, but he couldn't but sing along. The chorus was what he liked the most about the song.

_And even in the darkest of nights,_  
_there will always be a morning waiting for you_  
_A new dawn_

There were a few other that heard the song, they started to sing along or bring in their own instruments for the song. It wasn't the first time the caravan would do this.

The first time Jaune had been slightly terrified when heard it since he feared that the sound might attract the Grimm. It was then he would learn that their ears were more for decoration than actual function. The same went for all their other senses to different degrees, except for whatever they used to sense negative emotion. That made so much noise helped them, a good song drove away any negative emotion.

It was a thing he would learn during his first month on the caravan, that those who travel would always learn some skill to make sure they didn't attract Grimm. Stories, jokes or puns were a few examples of ways the caravan had made sure to ensure as few deaths as possible.

For the times they didn't work, the huntsmen that had been hired as guards would step in.

It was only a few hours later that they would finally make it out of the forest and to his stop. The perimeter of the cleared forest was the first sign that a village was here. There were thirty meters of clearance before the farms started and not far from it was the wall that protected the place.

He gently shook Rufus awake as he had managed to exhaust himself with all the songs he played.

"Rufus, wake up." He didn't wake at first so Jaune got a little rougher. "We need you to give them the code."

He woke up and walked over to the gate, a small hole at eye level had opened up. Rufus had told him about this the first time they arrived at a new village. How villages might let small groups of people in with too much trouble, but once the group reached a certain size they would need special permission. It was a system meant to ensure the safety of the village as bandits had often tried to dress up as merchants or mercenaries to get into a town unopposed.

Rufus whispered a few words through the hole and the gate opened, he jumped back onto the wagon and led the caravan in. They were led to the plaza where they parked their wagons and set up shop. There were few wares set out since they only planned to stay here for half a day, a more prosperous town wasn't too far away from there. It would be the caravan's final stop before they made a long way home.

This place would be his.

Jaune stepped off the wagon and thought of how this place would be his new life. Jaune had set out to the frontier to make a name for himself, one that wouldn't be burdened with Arc legacy back home.

Jaune said his goodbyes to the people that he had spent the last three months with, people who he could easily call his friends. He was given his luggage, but also something extra that he easily recognized.

"You're giving me your guitar Rufus, why would you do that?" The guitar looked brand new, but Jaune knew it was because Rufus would maintain it every night.

"Think of it as a gift for your services and besides," He pulled out a second guitar from the wagon. "I got a spare."

"I don't know what to say, except for thanking you. I don't know that many songs though." Rufus had taught him a few, but he had only fully learned two songs.

"That's alright, I have a book you could borrow. I have already learned all the songs in them."

Rufus engulfed him into a hug.

"I wish you luck and I'll come here again in about a month."

Jaune returned the hug and then went into the village. He found a villager and asked for directions to the mayor's office. The place wasn't too far away and soon he was in front of the building and on his way in.

The inside was cramped, dusty and it didn't look like someone had lived there for a long time. Jaune wondered if he had gone to the wrong place, but he saw a man that was asleep on the desk all the way in the back.

"Hello?" The man woke up with a start and Jaune could now see that he could easily have passed sixty with the amount of grey hair he has.

"What?" He looked around before his eyes settled on Jaune. "What kind of business do you have with the mayor?"

"I'm here to register myself as a new citizen. I just arrived with the caravan and-" The man's eyes bulged at the mention at the caravan, he stood up and started to move around the office at a speed that didn't befit his age. Jaune could only hear a few mumbled words as he did.

"Finally free-Retirement-Where are my pills." It didn't take long until he stood in front of Jaune with a suitcase in hand and tried to storm past him.

Jaune stood in his way, more out of confusion than intent.

"Did I say something wrong, I'm only here to register my-" The old man interrupted him.

"Listen here boy, I have been the mayor of this town for the last thirty years and I cannot tell you how much I've hated it. Do you think that I will not beat down a child?" He looked at him with wide, crazy eyes. "If not then you underestimate how hellish this job has been and you better move by the time I have finished speaking." Jaune feared for his life with the way the man looked at him and stepped aside. The man didn't waste any time and went past him.

"But who do I speak to about registering as a citizen?" He whispered to himself, but not low enough for the old man not to hear it.

"Just write your name in the big book behind the desk, you know what" He set down his suitcase and turned around fully. "By the power invested in me, I appoint you to the position of mayor of Mining Outpost 341. May you suffer as much as I have." The words said weren't fully processed until the man was already long gone and even then the answer was only a simple word.

"What?"

Jaune Arc, at fifteen years old had become the new mayor Mining Outpost 341 within ten minutes of his arrival.


	2. Chapter 2

Jaune thought of himself as an adaptable person.

He has worked as an apprentice for many different jobs back home. How he worked as a farmer to how it was a doctor required very different mindsets, but this situation was in no way comparable to those. The only job that came close to comparison would be when he volunteered at the orphanage for a couple of weeks.

Jaune didn't think the skills needed to watch over a group of five-year-olds translated well when it came to the management of a village. Could he even be the mayor?

He wasn't even sure if the old man was the mayor, this could all be a prank.

"You know what, it's most likely a misunderstanding." He said it loud for good measure. "There's no way someone could be irresponsible enough to give a job like that to a person they had never met."

Jaune wasn't even registered as a citizen. He went over to the desk, found the book the man had talked about and turned the page until he reached the registry. There were hundreds of names listed, which made Jaune really hope he hadn't become responsible for that many people.

It worried him that so many were crossed out some had been noted as dead, but many more had simply moved in the last five years. Jaune counted the names of the people who still lived here, out of curiosity, and 157 people still lived here. It would be 158 once Jaune wrote in his name.

Then again, the old man seemed ready to leave when he stormed out so it would still remain at 157 for now.

Jaune found something to write with and wrote down his personal details. He left out an address and profession since he didn't have one yet unless he believed what the old man had said.

Jaune wanted to live in denial for a little while longer. The man that walked in a moment later, unfortunately, didn't know that.

"Ah, you must be the new mayor then." A man who had to be in his thirties with red hair and a beard that matched said. "Already getting acquainted with the job I see."

Jaune was once again confused, it hadn't even been five minutes since the old man left and people had already started to recognize him as the new mayor.

"I think you got the wrong guy here." Things had moved way too fast since he got here.

"I met the former mayor right outside and he said he had given the job to the scrawny boy at his office." Jaune wasn't that scrawny, or was he? "And since I'm the mayor assistant, that would make you my new boss."

"Listen..." Jaune didn't know the guy's name, but the guy understood his pause.

"Slate Tritus at your service." He gave a small bow and Jaune couldn't help but think why this guy wasn't the mayor.

"Well, Slate, don't you think there's something wrong with putting a fifteen-year-old boy in charge of a village." Jaune truly felt how strange the situation was when he said it out loud.

"I guess it would be but out here age doesn't matter too much, it's what you do that does." Slate put on a thoughtful face. "You have completed basic education?"

"Of course." All of his sisters went through the same classes, so he basically had seven tutors when he had problems.

"Do you understand that people don't work faster by screaming at them?"

"Yes." Who would think that?

"You won't make me think you hired me for the sole fact that you would have someone to complain to when things don't go your way?"

"Of course not." That question sounded very specific.

"Well then." He walked towards Jaune and threw out his hand towards Jaune. "You're already ten times better than the previous guy then and I will have no problem working for you."

If this was some kind of prank then Jaune would really like for it to end. It didn't feel like it at this point, though, so Jaune had decided to at least play along until he was absolutely sure. Jaune shook Slate's outstretched hand and tried to get some understanding of his new job.

"I guess, I am the new mayor of Mining Outpost 341." Nope still sounded weird. "The first thing I would want to ask is if there's something you could tell me about the place."

Jaune had only asked Rufus to take him to a place as far away as possible and one that would definitely need new people. Who names their village Mining Outpost 341?

"Well, the best place to start would be the beginning." Slate moved over to a side of the office that had books stacked up from the floor to ceiling.

He pulled out a book from the middle of the stack and the stack somehow didn't fall apart. The book was laid on the desk and Jaune could read the title on it.

_The History of Mining outpost 341_

"The village was founded as a minor mining outpost over 40 years ago when the SDC discovered a large vein of fire dust." He turned to the first page which had a black and white picture. There were ten people in it, but one man in front held two dust crystals in his hands. "Nicholas Schnee was the one that discovered it and would later find and an equally large vein of earth dust and a small one filled with lightning."

Nicholas Schnee, Jaune had only heard about him through history books. His father had said that he was named after him, Jaune's grandfather was one of the huntsmen Nicholas had hired for his expeditions in Sanus. His grandfather had been so impressed by him that he gave his first son the same name.

"The SDC expanded their operations when they discovered iron a year later and soon there was a small, but growing population of people who called this place their home." Slate continued. "Things went well, at least, until the Faunus Rights Revolution started."

The Faunus Rights Revolution, or what they called the Faunus War in school wasn't a subject they taught much about. In school, it was made out as a war that started when Faunus resisted the kingdoms attempts to move all Faunus to Menagerie.

It was something his mom had not liked when she heard and she gave him extra lessons. It was in short, a war where the kingdoms were clearly in the wrong, but what the Faunus did to win made them almost as bad. Jaune was glad she didn't go too much into that.

"The SDC abandoned operations 28 years ago because of the rise of attacks and left only one man in charge. That would be the former mayor, Jenkins." He closed the book. "He used up all his money and influence to be the one in charge, two years before the SDC left. I didn't think he had the money to leave already."

Jaune took in all that information, the village had an interesting history, but there was still one thing that bothered him.

"Why haven't you changed the name from Mining Outpost 341 after all these years." It's has been a proper village for decades.

"The mayor didn't think it was worth the hassle."

"Oh." Jaune didn't know why he expected any other answer.

"Yeah, that was his response to most things. Now that you're acquainted with the history of our small village, we should decide what the pla-" Jaune's stomach decided to make itself known then, it made a sound that was similar to a Beowulf's growl. "Hungry?"

"Yes, it's been a few hours since the last time I ate." He didn't he was so hungry that his stomach would be that loud.

"It would be best that you ate first before we started. There's an inn that serves good food and drinks" He patted Jaune's back. "And you look like you need a little time for yourself. I can set up a list of tasks for you to look at when you're done, so you can get to know the village better."

"Thank you, but I don't have that much money right now." He had used most of it for the journey here.

"Just tell them that Slate is paying for it. The place is further into the village, walk back to the plaza and then go left towards the mines. It's impossible to miss, it's the third-largest building after the warehouse and the church."

"Thanks." Jaune was too hungry to say no to the offer and would make sure to repay him. "I'll make sure not to order too much."

Jaune left for the inn, he hoped that the situation could clear up once he filled his stomach. Things couldn't get any more complicated, could they?


	3. Chapter 3

Jaune had wondered if he should tell Rufus about his new position when he reached the plaza but thought better of it. He could tell him later, they looked busy with their customers anyway.

He noticed something weird as he walked past them, there only five people here to buy stuff.

They had arrived here early in the day so people might be busy, but there should be more people than this. A trade caravan didn't come often all the way out here. Rufus had said there were only two other caravans that travelled through this region and there would be months until they came.

It would be something to ask about later, he had to focus so he wouldn't end up lost. He took a left turn and was now in full view of the mountain that the village had been built against. Jaune hadn't focused on it much because of the excitement he felt of a new place, but he gave it a brief look as down.

A lot of villages would usually settle near a mountain. A mountain had a good chance to contain valuable resources. It also made it so that they only needed to defend from three sides and a sturdy bunker could be mined out. It was good that the place he was now in charge of had a good chance to survive an attack. The wooden wall worried him a little since his home had a stone wall and he didn't see any machineguns mounted on the wall.

It wasn't long until he reached a building that was as large as Jaune had imagined.

The inn was often considered one of the most important places in a village as small as this. It functioned as a place to sleep, but also as a place where people could wind down and relax. Food and alcohol would be served, it was a great deterrent against the Grimm.

After all, a good inn was one that always made sure their customers left in a good mood.

Jaune walked inn and he could tell that this inn was one that followed that idea. He could hear a catchy tune from a piano mixed with laughter and cheers from the people that were already there. Jaune wondered what the song was, but the smell of delicious food reminded him about why he was here and himself a seat at the counter.

The man who came to serve him was the classic image of an innkeeper. He had a muscular build with a bald head and a powerful beard. There was a glass in his hands that was clearly clean, but he continued to clean it with a cloth.

The apron he wore had the description, 'Please compliment the chef

"What would you like to order?" A wide, friendly smile greeted Jaune, the cheerful tone he used made Jaune smile in response.

"Something filling, I haven't eaten for hours." Jaune almost forgot. "And I was told to tell you to put in on Slate's tab."

"Slate you say." He put the glass down and stretched out his hand. "That must mean you're new here, Slate only does that for newcomers and I'm sure I haven't seen you before. You can call me Innkeeper, people use that name more than my real one these days."

"Yep," Jaune shook his hand, the man had a gentler grip than one would expect. "Arrived here less than an hour ago with the trade caravan."

"They're already here? I will have to make sure to buy what I need before I leave." He rubbed his hands together in anticipation and went into a room in the back, Jaune guessed it was the kitchen. "A vegetable stew should fill you right up and no need to worry about the cost, this one's on me."

Jaune turned around in his stool so he could enjoy the music better, it would take some time before the Innkeeper was done with his meal. A waiter came up to him with a glass of water, one that Jaune thanked for, the cold water felt good as it went down. Jaune leaned against the counter and simply enjoyed the mood.

The Innkeeper came with a bowl after a couple of minutes and filled up his glass with more water.

"Here you go, enjoy your meal." He went straight back to the same glass he had put down before, started to clean it once again.

The innkeeper back home would do the same thing, maybe it's part of the job?

Jaune took his first spoonful of the stew, then instantly took a second, then a third and he didn't slow down until he was halfway through. The soup was so good, and a familiar aftertaste that he couldn't quite place made it even better. It had to be the spice he used and Jaune really wished he remembered when he last ate something similar. The Innkeeper looked satisfied as Jaune drank some water before he would get back to the meal.

"You must have been hungrier than I thought, I'm starting to wonder if you'll need a second bowl at this rate." The Innkeeper looked towards the door and frowned. "I had hoped they wouldn't come in today."

Jaune wondered who 'they' were and looked toward the door as well. What kind of group made a man like the Innkeeper mood worsen so suddenly? At first glance, the group didn't seem too bad.

They were miners and must have come out straight from the mines with how dirty they were. The group had five people in it and they didn't seem violent, they looked more exhausted than ready to cause any trouble. Jaune hoped that the Innkeeper didn't have a problem with their obvious Faunus features.

"Why can't they keep themselves to their own part of the village. Faunus are more trouble than their worth sometimes." Jaune was disappointed that the Innkeeper felt that way about the Faunus.

Jaune had met racists before, but he had hoped it wouldn't be as obvious all the way out here. He would always be surprised when a person with a friendly face would suddenly glare at a Faunus who passed by. It made it impossible to think that only bad people could be racist.

"Hmm." Jaune only hummed as an answer, it was better to act cautiously until he knew how much of a problem it was around here.

He had just arrived so this was hopefully something that rarely happened.

"I would advice you to stay away from the animals." The Innkeeper leaned and spoke in a hushed voice. "I saw that one of them had a White Fang tattoo a couple of months ago, the one with the wolf ears."

Jaune spotted the one he talked about, he had grey hair and one of his wolf ears was maimed. The man looked like he had seen much in his life and had scars with a large one that went diagonally over his face.

"A White Fang tattoo, I didn't know they did that." Jaune didn't know too much since they had never gone to his village, but he knew they were peaceful protestor turned violent terrorists. People who fought for Faunus right with violence and were responsible for a lot of deaths.

A waiter had given them some drinks, the waiter looked afraid as he dealt them out and hurried to another table. They took the drinks and made to leave, Jaune could understand why. The music had stopped ever since they walked in and the other customers didn't help, they weren't subtle with their glances.

"Who knows why terrorists do what they do, I can't bar them from the inn without fearing an attack from the White Fang." He sighed. "But I know what the symbol looks, it had that vicious animal head and a circle around it."

A circle?

Why would someone else have the old symbol of the White Fang as a tattoo? The only one that had something similar was his mom and she never told him why she would have that when he asked. The Innkeeper turned to another customer before he could ask if he was sure.

Jaune decided to ask the person with it directly.

He finished the stew, complimented the chef for the delicious food and ran after the miners. They hadn't gone too far, one of them saw him and alerted the rest of the group. The man Jaune wanted to talk was the one that stopped while the rest went on to wherever they were headed.

"What seems to be the problem." The man looked at him suspiciously. "Actually, I don't think I recognize. Are you new here?"

"Yes, arrived here today." Jaune decided to be as direct as possible. "Is it true that you have a tattoo of the old symbol of the White Fang?"

Was that too direct?

There was only silence after Jaune had asked the question and Jaune wondered what his reaction would be. Would the man laugh at him, threaten him to make sure he stayed quiet or just deny it. The deep sigh combined a facepalm was not a reaction Jaune expected.

"No wonder the guys at the inn had acted so strange." He sounded tired as he spoke. "Are you going to report me to the police or something?"

"No, I was just curious since my mom had the same tattoo. She would never tell me why she had it."

"Your mom had the same tattoo? Did it have any writing under it?"

Yeah, but I don't remember what it said exactly." The tattoo was on her back and it was written in Mistralian, he had to write down what he remembered and ask his teacher what it said. "We fight. To defend the weak and the-" That was how much he remembered

"Oppressed." The man continued. "For if we don't, who will?"

"She never told you what those words meant, did she?" Jaune shook his head, but the words he heard resonated him and made him wonder why his mom never told him. "That was the motto of the White Fang division that fought during the Faunus Rights Revolution, one that consisted of both Humans and Faunus."

"My mom fought in that war?" It would explain why she would sometimes go quiet when people talked about it. "I thought it was a war against humans and Faunus."

"No, plenty of Humans had something against their friends and family being forcibly deported. The White Fang division was a group that accepted humans that were willing to fight against the kingdom. What's your mother's name?"

"Her name is Juniper." The man broke into a smile at the mention of his mother's name. "You know her?"

"Know her?" He chuckled. "A woman like your mother isn't a person one easily forgets. Never thought Juniper 'Freedom' Dandelion would settle down. How is she doing these days?"

"Fin-" Jaune was interrupted by another miner that ran up to them. She, a lion Faunus Jaune guessed with her sharp teeth and incisors that stuck out of her mouth, glared at Jaune. The two miners started a hushed discussion that ended quickly, the wolf-Faunus looked apologetic as he looked towards Jaune.

"Sorry about this kid, but there are some problems at the mines and they need the boss to take charge." He started to sprint towards the mines but called out to him in a voice that could clearly be heard over the distance. "Just come by the mines later for a talk, ask for Bazz when you get there."

Jaune stood there until they were out of view, it was a shame he couldn't hear any talk about his mom's past. He would make sure to remember to visit the mines later. As the new mayor, it would be one of his duties so he wouldn't even need to take a break from the job for the talk.

Slate had waited long enough at this point, it was time to see how much work the job as a mayor would need. It couldn't be too much for a small village like this, could it?

* * *

Jaune felt like he shouldn't have jinxed himself when he had made his way back to the office.

Slate stood next to the desk, but that wasn't what took his attention. It was the pile of paper on the desk that was almost as tall as Slate.

"There you are, was it a good meal?" Jaune wordlessly nodded still in shock about the number of papers Slate had gathered for him. "The stack of papers on your desk are the things that are the most urgent, if you have any questions then you have to only ask."

Jaune took a seat at his desk, careful not to jostle it so that the stack wouldn't collapse.

"I know that it might be a bit late to ask, but I never asked you what your name was. It's a bit tiring to refer to you as the mayor every time I think about you."

"Oh, it's Jaune Arc."

"Well then Jaune, if I can call you that." Jaune nodded. "Which task would you like to begin with first?"

"What do you think we should start with first?" Slate knew how out of his depth Jaune was, maybe Slate knew of something easier to start with.

"Well, the most pressing situation would have to be the sickness that's been going around."

"Sickness?" It would explain why there were so few at the plaza, were there that many sick?

"Yes, it been around for months and had led to twelve deaths and forty-three people are currently bedridden. It's not contagious, but we don't have any effective way to deal with it."

"Does the doctor know what it is?" Jaune wished they could start with something easier. The situation sounded too serious for him to ignore now that he knows about it.

"The doctor is one of the people who are bedridden and the former mayor refused to call for a second doctor, said it would cost too much." Slate spoke that sentence with uncharacteristic anger. Did he know one of the people who died?

"I see, then I will need to see this for myself. Could you take me to one of the patients, I have some medical training." Jaune had helped out at the clinic back home, maybe he could find some way to ease their pain.

This would be his first official act as the mayor, he was determined to not mess things up.

* * *

**The story is divided into arcs and will introduce characters from cannon that will either stay or come back later as visitors. The first two arcs are the Sickness Arc and the Bandit Arc. Jaune will grow into the role as he learns about the village.**

**I hoped that answered the questions from the reviews.**


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